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This inexpensive (I found a copy at Circuit City for $34) boxed set brings together the four most recent releases from the King Crimson "fractals" known as the ProjeKcts. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept - the band felt that they needed to do some research and development, so the six members broke up into four subsets to do some experimental, mostly live, mostly improvisational music. To be honest, King Crimson's improvisations are hit and miss with me. I like some of the stuff that the "Starless"-era band did, but the recent THRaKaTTaK album wasn't a particular favorite of mine. But the low price and easy availability of the new set (coupled with a few glowing reviews I read on some mailing lists) made me decide to pick it up. After my first listen, the ProjeKct Two disc was the only one that appealed to me. I figured that maybe that was because I was already familiar with ProjeKct Two's Space Groove, so I gave the rest of the set a chance to grow on me. After hearing the whole set a couple times, I found myself wanting to listen to it over and over. It has grown on me to the point where it has become one of my favorite recent purchases. The ProjeKct One disc is probably the closest to standard jazz fusion, mostly due to the acoustic drums (all the other sets feature electronic drums and samples). Still, anyone at the Jazz Cafe who was expecting standard jazz must have been in for a bit of a shock. The Stick and touch guitar are often used to pound out some pretty hectic rhythms (check out track two), while in other places the guitars create laid-back, atmospheric soundscapes. Sometimes both things happen together. Given that this disc features the line-up that's closest to 80s King Crimson, and the most familiar instrumentation, I expected it to be my favorite of the set. Instead, it turns out that I like the other three discs more. ProjeKct Two's disc contained some familiar material. A few tracks are live interpretations of pieces from Space Groove, and the disc concludes with a short, instrumental version of "21st Century Schizoid Man" (sounding like it was played by the Cantina band from Star Wars). There is also a lot of improv and new material, including "The Deception of the Thrush" - a mellow but menacing song with a slow, insistent rhythm section. The ProjeKct Four disc also contains a (much different) version of this song. At the end of the P2 disc, after a long stretch of silence, we get about eight minutes of audience reaction to Fripp walking off the stage because someone took a flash photo of him. It's left as an exercise for the reader to decide if this makes Fripp a hero or a jerk. The ProjeKct Three disc isn't quite like the others. The source material for it came mainly from live improv performances, but then the music was edited with bits and pieces moved here and there to "make a better flow and cover a few, but not all, brown spots" (according to the liner notes). The result is a disc that sounds more "studio" than the others, but still retains the energy and experimentation of the live shows. This disc is probably the hardest to get a grip on - after several listens, I still haven't fully formed an opinion on it yet. As with disc two (and four), this one contains a silent section near the end, followed by a short flurry of notes. Personally, I think this little trick is getting old (since it seems that most Crimson-related discs released in recent years have something like this), and it actually goes against the liner notes - they suggest you play the disc "in random mode to continue the improvisation". Good idea, but having that blank spot show up in the middle somewhere really wrecks the flow of the music. ProjeKct Four sounds to me like "Ozric Tentacles meets Soundscapes". The OT feeling comes from electronic "twiddly bits" that help to propel the rhythm section. I personally really like this effect, so the beginning of disc four is one of my favorite parts of the boxed set. Like disc two, this one seems more composed than other parts of the set. And like disc two, this one also features song titles. West Coast Live opens with a song in four sections (with the sections sounding like four different performances spliced together) called "Ghost (part 1)". As mentioned above, the disc also includes a version of "Deception of the Thrush", this time with a booming, pounding rhythm section. "Hindu Fizz" and "ProjeKction" follow, and finally the disc ends with the five-track song, "Ghost (part 2)". This last song begins with Fripp and Levin trading scratchy low notes and getting some laughs from the audience. Overall the music is more varied and interesting than one might think, given the small three and four man groups. The electronic drums add a lot of different sounds and textures to the songs, and the guitars often sound like pianos or synths. I have no idea how they generated some of the sounds (like the stuff on disc four). The "talker" (whatever that is) creates some interesting computer-like speech effects. The Stick and touch guitars are used both to create some bone-shakingly deep low ends and also to help fill in and orchestrate the upper registers. About the liner notes: Disc one is a bit skimpy, containing little more than the standard Discipline Global Mobile business credo, plus a description of the fractals concept and credits information. The back page of the booklet contains a surprisingly terse and metaphysical blurb from Fripp about playing at the Jazz Cafe. The DGM and fractals info is repeated in the booklets of all four sets. Disc two also includes tour dates, credits, band photos and some lengthy excerpts from Trey Gunn's road diaries. Disc three's notes include technical info from Pat Mastelotto on how the drums were played and recorded, and how the album was mixed. Also included is Fripp's road diary, in which he mostly bitches about how the obnoxious fans refuse to allow him his space. Disc four probably has the thickest booklet, including technical details and a lengthy section of road notes from the band's merchandise man. It would have been nice if the discs had been filled to capacity - the liner notes mention in a few places how there's hours worth of ProjeKct material on tape. I know, quality not quantity, but still... It also might have been nice for one of the ProjeKcts to not include Fripp, to prove once and for all that Crimson isn't all about him. Oh well. In the end, I think this is some of the most interesting music to come out of the King Crimson camp in years, which bodes well for the future of Crim. Now I have to go back and give THRaKaTTaK and Space Groove another chance. review by Bob Eichler — undated —

h e a t h e r

This music consists of live extended improvisations, by various combinations of King Crimson members; in some cases the music is modified in the studio. Most of the music consists of hypnotic drum and bass grooves, which drive the guitar improvisations. It also presents some unique musical hybrids within the improvisational, somewhat free setting. The various lineups here experiment with combinations of acoustic and electric jazz, unorthodox metal, drum ‘n bass and trip-hop techniques of electronic percussion, ambient Soundscapes, and world music. What makes this music familiar to the canon of King Crimson and Robert Fripp recordings is the guitar improvisation and the application of a very interesting array of guitar synthesizer textures; the familiar sustained tones, piano samples, soundscapes, and so on. Every time I listen to it I find new bits to get excited about. The music really does have a kinetic energy to it, with almost alien melodies and textures. Disc 3 for example has a very affecting dark ambience to it, whether the music is soft or loud. Disc 4 on the other hand is very bright, with ecstatic rhythmic elements and blazing guitars colored with world music elements. Disc 2 is cold electronic music with an almost lounge-music type feel to it and Disc 1 has the raw improvisational feel and excitement of acoustic jazz but with sometimes corrosive and sometimes ambient edges. review by Heather Mackenzie — 2-27-03 —